Meryl Streep thinks she has women to thank for her “bewildering” career
There are a lot of pitfalls in the Hollywood system that deserve exploiting. One of the murkiest is the lack of high-quality roles available for women once they pass a certain age.
Tragically, sex appeal has long been a facet of why a female actor is hired for a role. Her talent is certainly of value, but for a long time, and still today in some of the darker areas of the industry, talent falls down the pecking order when hiring the female lead for a movie.
Thankfully, for actors like Meryl Streep, things are changing. In 2024, she told Forbes: “The roles are wonderful now for women, and so many women are producing for themselves.” Celebrating stars like Reese Witherspoon and Nicole Kidman who transitioned into becoming producers as well as actors, Streep is one actor who has benefited from the shift in perspective.
Streep has enjoyed a decades-long career, and while her talent has never been questioned, she was certainly worried that when she passed a certain age milestone, she’d be cast out of the Hollywood hiring circle. Speaking with The Boston Globe in 2004, Streep revelled in her “bewildering” success at the time, noting how little time she thought she had left once passing the age of 40.
“It’s bewildering. I always thought I’d be washed up at 40,” she told the publication. “That’s the way it is for most leading actresses. I’ve been lucky.” Of course, luck has nothing to do with it, Streep’s one of the finest actors the industry has ever known. But in terms of how often roles for older women are even greenlit, Streep’s career is somewhat miraculous.
For Streep, the reason for her bustling period of success was down to women finally reaching the higher positions at studios. She continued: “I’m not unaware of the fact that some of my biggest jobs recently have come as a result of women being the head of studios. Amy Pascal was at Sony when Spike Jonze said he wanted me to play the part of Susan Orlean [in Adaptation]. I was 52 years old.”
The options for a different actor in that role was clear, as Streep explained: “They could have asked for a 32-year-old. I can’t help thinking that if a man had been running that studio they would have asked Cate Blanchett. That was Amy. Same with Sherry Lansing.”
It’s hard to argue. Hollywood’s desire to keep fresh faces pouring through its doors is unavoidable, but that shouldn’t mean a reduction in real stories about women of all ages. If we are to illuminate areas of Hollywood’s darker spots, then allowing women into positions of power to greenlight such projects is perhaps the easiest one to switch to flick on.
